Gov. Brown signs law limiting detention of immigrants

Among the bills is one that prohibits local law enforcement agencies from detaining people for deportation if they are arrested for a minor crime and otherwise eligible to be released from custody.

"What we're doing here is we're not using our jails as a holding vat for the immigration service," Brown told reporters Saturday. "Where they see important matters, they can take action, but in California we're going to stick to our own business."

AB 4 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, creates a statewide standard for how local agencies comply with the federal Secure Communities program, which requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of those who are arrested and to hold for 48 hours anyone whom federal authorities wish to detain.

The law Brown signed allows state and local police and sheriff's departments to detain immigrants only if they have been arrested for or convicted of certain serious or violent felonies.

People could also be held if they were convicted of a misdemeanor crime that carries a felony equivalent or if they are registered as sex offenders.

The governor vetoed a similar measure last year because it did not let officials detain those convicted of crimes such as child abuse and drug trafficking, exemptions that were removed from this year's version.

"The Legislature did work to amend it. They added several crimes that I thought were very important. And now it's a bill that both protects public safety and yet also protects immigrants," said Brown.

The California District Attorneys Association remained opposed to the legislation, however, expressing concern it "could result in the inappropriate and untimely release of potentially dangerous offenders" and "would frustrate local cooperation with federal officials who maintain exclusive province over the enforcement of immigration law."

"It appears that this bill would permit a local policy to trump federal law, and it is not clear how such a provision would pass constitutional muster," the association wrote before the bill cleared the Legislature.

"This bill recognizes that anyone who commits a crime has to serve all the time that is prescribed by law. This is a matter of how long they would stay in jail waiting for the immigration service to take them back to (from) whatever country they came," said Brown.

The guidance that spells out when officers would comply with the federal deportation program was one of eight immigration-related measures Brown signed as he faces an Oct. 13 deadline for approving or vetoing legislation.

The governor also approved a bill allowing lawyers to be admitted to the California bar even if they are living in the U.S. illegally.

The package of bills also included a measure stating that someone who threatens to report an immigrant's illegal status to authorities could be charged with criminal extortion, and a related law subjecting employers who retaliate against workers on the basis of immigration to fines and the loss of their business licenses.

"All of this change is a result of the contribution of immigrants, how hard they're working and the respect they're gaining among both Democrats and Republicans," said Brown.

Copyright 2013 by KCRA.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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